Why Should I Join a Church? (Crucial Questions)

by R.C. Sproul

All religions in all cultures around the world have their individual examples of hierophanies. A hierophany is an outward, visible manifestation of the sacred. We want to see a distinction between the secular and the sacred, between the profane and the holy, even in our buildings.

The first mark, the Reformers determined, was that the gospel is preached. A true church preaches the gospel. The second mark is the administration of the sacraments. The Roman Catholic Church has seven sacraments, but the Protestant movement reduced that number to two—baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Some tried to eliminate the sacraments altogether, but the Reformers said that if you take away the sacraments, you take away the church. So, according to the Reformers, any professing Christian body that denies the sacraments no longer has the right to claim to be a true church. The third mark is discipline.